A Feast of Architecture: The Beauty of European Architecture Through the Eyes of Architects

Author: Editorial Board of Architectural Creation Magazine
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The Kremlin covers an area of 27.5 hectares and is enclosed by red brick walls ranging from 8 to 19 meters high. The total length of the walls is 2,235 meters, featuring a patrol walkway and 1,045 guard embrasures, with four main gates and 19 towers. The Spassky Tower facing Red Square, a clock tower often seen in photographs, is a Gothic and Renaissance-style building completed in 1491 under the leadership of the Italian architect Pietro Solari. It was further expanded between 1624 and 1625, with its great clock measuring 6.12 meters in diameter. Since then, the clock's chimes have served as the national timekeeping signal. Today, the entrance to this tower is used as the official entrance for national leaders and VIPs. There was also a folk legend that one must not wear a hat when entering this gate, or else they would suffer bad luck. In fact, when Napoleon invaded Moscow, he wore a tri-cornered hat and entered the Kremlin through this gate, which led to his disastrous retreat.
In addition to the Spassky Tower, there is another entrance to the Kremlin in the northeastern direction of Red Square (the Nikolsky Tower), one along the southern bank of the Moscow River (the Tarnitsky Tower), and two on the western side of the Alexander Garden (the Polovitsky and Troitsky Towers). The towers at the corners of the walls are round, and their spires are adorned with five gleaming red stars.
The Kremlin began to open to the public in 1955. Today, the tour route starts from the western entrance, with the churches and palace complex in the southwest accessible to visitors. The buildings in the northeastern and northern directions are the Presidential Palace and the Federal Assembly, marked with clear signs indicating restricted areas. The Presidential Palace was built between 1776 and 1787 and was originally used by the Senate. Later, it served as the seat of the Soviet Council of Ministers. Designed by M. Kazakov in the Russian classical style, it has a basic isosceles triangular plan with the main entrance on the longer side, featuring three inner courtyards. The large round hall at the apex of the triangle is aligned with the Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square, and the top of the hall rises with the presidential flag. During his lifetime, Lenin resided in the third floor of this building. P8-9